Safe & Sound
by TheArchimage
Summary: Two kids caught outside on a rainy day. Part of Chara & Frisk Week 2018.


Day 4: Music

This might be the shortest thing I've written since grade school. I hope it's still good.

* * *

The two of them were holed up beneath a large oak tree, its leaves shielding them for the moment. The school building loomed overhead, while the parking lot with only a handful of cars in it slowly darkened from the ensuing drizzle. Toriel was still in her PTA meeting, which was running late as usual. All the other kids who had been playing had already scampered inside to get out of the rain. Frisk tried to tell Chara that maybe they should join them but Chara ignored them entirely. Now that Frisk looked they could see the wires connecting the headphone jack of their phone to the buds in their ears. They had their eyes closed, completely absorbed in whatever music was being pumped through the earbuds. In all likelihood they had the volume up so high they had not heard Frisk at all.

Frisk sighed and hoisted themself up the few inches needed to raise their butt enough to sit down on the retaining wall next to Chara. They leaned back, propping themself up with their hands in the grass. The sky was the uniform color of fine ash and dripped a slow trickle of tears upon the earth. It was raining enough to need shelter, not hard enough to justify running out to dance in it. Definitely the worst kind of rainstorm.

They felt a tap on their shoulder. When they looked Chara was much as they had last seen them, face ahead and eyes closed, except they had removed one of their earbuds and was holding it out to Frisk. One issue: Chara was sitting on Frisk's right, and they had offered the left earbud. The buds were shaped so they would not easily enter the opposite ear and the wire was short; if Frisk wanted to listen in they would have to sit shoulder-to-shoulder with Chara. That did not bother them in the slightest, but did Chara mean to do that? After a brief moment of hesitation they decided Chara did not make mistakes of that kind. Frisk took the earpiece and scooted right up to Chara's side, plugging themself in.

The music they heard was… not what they expected. Chara never listened to music without headphones or the like and they kept strict wraps on their musical tastes. Frisk always figured Chara would be into goth rock, or death metal, or something else that reflected their disdain and contempt for the world at large. What entered their ears, though, was a somber and sedate piece. A simple melody with an acoustic guitar providing backup for breathy vocals. It sounded sad and downbeat, but strangely hopeful. They could tell by some of the signal degradation that it was an old song, though if they asked Chara probably would have huffed that it wasn't old in their time. Now that they thought about Chara, they noticed they were very stiff. Their jaw was clenched and their left hand formed a rigid claw over their knee. Did they actually mean for them to sit so close? No, Frisk decided; they were waiting for something. An incredulous laugh, or a jeering taunt, or some other disgusted reaction. They were expecting Frisk to hate this music and make fun of them for liking it. No chance of that; even if it was bad they would not have betrayed Chara's trust like that. But even if it was a little out of character for them they could see why Chara would enjoy this kind of music and it seemed fitting for a day when the sun could not be seen but you still knew it was there.

Frisk leaned into Chara a little more and put their hand on Chara's. Chara realized the expected emotional blow was not coming and relaxed, returning the lean and flipping their hand around so they could hold hands properly. Their heads lolled into one another in sync, their shoulders and the sides of their faces forming a misshapen triangle. Toriel might come soon. The leaves might soak through and begin dropping water on them. The wind might pick up to the point where Chara's light jacket would not protect them from the cold. For now they could sit and watch the unmoving parking lot, pretending the world was empty but for the two of them.


End file.
